Filipino Family Fights Police Brutality in San Jose

From the Justice for Custodio Family Campaign

70 protesters representing Filipino organizations and youth groups, and a growing rallied outside the San José Superior Court Hall of Justice on May 15th, demanding justice for Marlo, Romel, and Marilou Custodio. The three Evergreen Valley residents are charged with resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer. during a February 5th incident.

On February 5, 2007, three members of the Custodio family, single mother Marilou (age 50), Marlo, (age 18), and Romel (age 25) were brutalized by eight members of the San Jose Police Department. The Custodio family is of Filipino descent. The false charges cover up the horrific display of police brutality inflicted by the San Jose Police Department. The Department was already under investigation by the County of Santa Clara Civil Grand Jury for excessive force and racial profiling of African-Americans, Latinos, and other people of color.

According to the family, Marlo Custodio was sitting in his car with his girlfriend at the Evergreen Valley lake area when police officers told him to get out of the car. Marlo asked the officer what he had done, then was dragged out of the car by his neck, tasered, and kneed in the face, all the while following police orders.

During the ordeal, Marlo managed to call his mother on his cell phone. When Marilou, a county worker, arrived to find out what was happening to her son, she was told by officers to leave, and when she didn’t, officers slammed her head into the police car three times.

Romel Custodio, Marlo’s brother and a health worker, was tackled by five officers despite following police orders. He was tasered so severely, that he suffers from three taser burns, scarring him for life. All members of the family are also suffering from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of this assault. In total, eight police officers participated in the beatings while two watched.

As a result of this incident, the Justice for Custodio Family Campaign and Coalition for Justice and Accountability was organized, and many other organizations and individuals have come out to support the family. The Justice for Custodio Family Campaign demands to have the charges dropped, take disciplinary action against the perpetrators and bystanders of the beatings, prosecute them, grant the family justice, and to act decisively.

Rowena Tomanang, a member of the Justice for Custodio Family Campaign said, “In terms of the family and the Coalition for Justice & Accountability and the Justice for Custodio Family Campaign, this is not us versus the San Jose Police Department. We are not against law enforcement. What we are against are the use of excessive force and police brutality in our community, and we are against other practices that racially profile Filipinos and others of Asian descent, people of color and the community at large…. What’s important for us is that we need to unite the community in order to show the District Attorney and city officials that we, as a community, are united in demanding that the charges against the family be dropped and [for them] to actually improve the system and to have some accountability measures in place.”